Got up just before 7:00 and started my final packing, and were pulling out of the Goethe State Forest at about 8:45, well ahead of schedule. We stopped once to pick up fuel and breakfast just before getting on I-95, and I noticed my battery light was on and my computer read-out was telling me my battery wasn’t charging. Amazing, it seems like almost every time we head to my brother’s, the last leg of the journey has some mechanical challenge. So we turned off all the electrics and kept an eye on the gauge, but it hardly moved during the rest of the nearly 2-hour journey. Then we got to my brother’s at the respectable time of about 2:00, I had no trouble whatsoever getting down his narrow drive (I’ve had a little more practice on driving this rig since last year!), but then we had some problems in the yard. There’s been a ton of rain here during the last few weeks, and living on the edge of the Everglades, his property half returned to swamp. We had a hard time turning around, and an even harder time trying to back up onto the little bit of high ground where we parked last year, and ended up getting stuck trying to maneuver between a light switch and a light pole that stand directly in the middle of where we were and where we wanted to be. We worked till nearly dark trying to move the trailer into a position that would work, but it was hopeless. We ended up deciding to just stay where we were until we could get someone with a 4-wheel drive (though I’m not sure even that will help!), or call a tow truck or just wait until we have enough dry weather to let us move. The only trouble with the spot, really, is that there’s a pile of cement blocks just outside the door, so I suggested that at some point we move them, which Jeff said he’s been wanting to do anyway, so that’s another chore on my list. Meanwhile, our original plan had been to drive into the parts store and get a new alternator, but after screwing around for 3 hours, my batteries were now dead, so that wasn’t possible. We decided we’d tackle it all in the morning. I ran the generator for a while, then we settled down for the evening, glad to be in warmer weather, at least, albeit raining off and on throughout the evening.
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